Scott Dunlap's blog of trail running, ultrarunning, triathlon, and other life adventures. I enjoy the physical, emotional, and spiritual journey of outdoor events and the chance to meet cool people. This blog contains interviews, research, original fiction, new product ideas, and all things trail running.

For those who love to watch a good train wreck, be sure to check out the Facebook page that is updated every few minutes for the latest accusations. The CEO of Competitor Group, the race organizer, got married with his wife during the race and they both clocked a finish averaging 6:31 min/miles to win their age groups (no split times recorded, suspiciously). No money went to charity, aggravating many. No medical personnel at the finish. Online petitions to boycott the Rock n Roll series popping up. Those who got a finisher medal noted it has a picture of the Seattle Space Needle. Pretty crazy! And mind you, these complaints come in every couple of minutes FOUR DAYS after the event. Many also say they had a great time, clocked PR's, and had no issues, and at least nobody died (yet). But whoa...the haters are out in force on this one.

It gives me a whole new appreciation for the smooth execution of the NYC Marathon with its 47,000+ participants. One forgets how many things have to go right to have these big races run smoothly.

I can't seem to stop reading those facebook entries, kinda like driving by a car crash. A couple of months ago I was complaining about the 4:30 cutoff for the marathon (I'm a 5 hour marathoner). Looks like they did me a favor and I was able to avoid this fiasco :)

I ran it, and it was fun running down the strip at night. However, there were many, many problems with the race including the water issue (I wasn't affected) and funneling the 4000 marathoners into the 40,000 half marathoners at our 13 mile mark. There wasn't an effort to seperate the two groups, so I ended up weaving through thousands of people and was unable to hold my goal pace. I hope they learn from their mistakes and put on a better event next year. I also hope the market drives the price down on this one.

I kind of got sick at the after party, but that had nothing to do with tainted water.

It doesn't sound like you ran it, me neither. But my friend ran it (his first half), and he did have some issues, which was disappointed because I was hoping he'd get hooked! I read some of the FB comments: ran out of water, not enough medals, green bananas! So glad I wasn't there...

It sounds like a lot of people got really sick afterwards - hope they can figure that out. If you pack thousands of people in a room for an hour right after a race, that's a Vegas-size petri dish. Ugh.

while it does look a great deal like the Space Needle on the medal (and an updated one in real life) it is The Stratosphere. :)

I ran it. The Half. Third year in a row. The previous years not an issue at all. The first one was a little cold though at 35 degrees thru most of it. The second year (last year) a perfect race! This recent one? Well, I have complaints - volunteers sticking ungloved fingers into water cups, the banana's, having the race at night, and the course changes - I did not have many of the issues others had. It rained at the finish by the time I crossed. Yet, I doubt RR Competitor Group can be blamed for that one. :) Plus, I also live in Vegas. Post race hang out at the Mandalay Bay not too appealing. I just hoped in my pick up ride near the finish area and went home. No vomitting on the way either.

I doubt I do it again if it is at night. My only big complaint. The novely of it being at night, on the Strip wears off after 3-4 miles.

I doubt this will mean the doom of the event or any other RR ones. I have done Vegas three times and AZ and SD a few times each without any issues and a fun experience overall.

While there's been a lot of exaggeration, yeah, the course was overcrowded, volunteers ditched their positions due to the temps, they ran out of water, and they ran out of half medals (which they apparently knew would happen). I don't understand the whole "post race fiasco" at all - I waited around for my wife, who is a slower half marathoner, we grabbed our bags and caught a shuttle up to the Wynn. There was no post-race event at the Mandalay Bay; just the Wynn and the Palazzo. Aside from maybe the people who needed medical attention and their friends/families, why were people crowding in to the MB?

About Me

I'm a technology entrepreneur who took up trail running and triathloning back in 2001 to get off the work treadmill and see a bit more of the outdoors. I also love to eat, so the exercise helps me justify those extra helpings. ;oP I'm always interested in learning more about trail running - please comment and link away!

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